White Chocolate Chai Macarons

I really was going to be done baking this week.

After three cakes (Ombre Rose Cake, Caramel Macaron Cake, Buttercream Rose Wreath Cake) and one batch of macarons, I told myself that I didn’t need to spend more time in the kitchen before heading off to Portland to visit my brother and some friends. I was out of excuses to bake and I needed to spend time on things like packing.

But when your friend texts you and asks if you can make macarons together… How could I resist?!

After finding about 20 new recipes for macarons on FoodGawker I gave my friend Jenny a few flavor options, and her vote was for “White Chocolate….But maybe Chai” — which I took as a challenge to create a White Chocolate Chai Macaron.

Having just had great success with making macarons a few days before, I was unusually hesitant to try a new recipe, and decided instead to modify the previous recipe I had used, adding in the flavors I wanted as I could. I was a little nervous to experiment so soon after discovering (or rediscovering) how amazing macarons are to bake at home, but for some reason I thrive off of trying new things in the kitchen so it all worked out alright.

Jenny wanted to learn how to make macarons, so as I baked she kept me company in the kitchen and asked questions so that she would be able to make them herself at home. I discovered that this is the perfect way to bake with someone, since I have definite control issues in the kitchen and never know what people mean when they ask me to “bake with them” or “teach them how to bake.” But anyway, we spent a lovely morning baking, chatting, sneaking tastes of buttercream, and listening to Korean music.

And I am already excited for trying a million new flavor combinations.

The white chocolate and chai flavors complimented each other perfectly without being too sweet or too overpowering, and while I would definitely would make this combination again I am already chomping at the bit to exchange the chai with other flavors like matcha, jasmine, espresso (are you sensing a theme in my frequent flavor choices?) and try other types of chocolate and caramel and jam in the filling.

My mouth is watering, and I even have a plate of leftover macarons in my refrigerator waiting for me! So good luck to all you readers… you may need to start the baking process as soon as you finish reading this.

White Chocolate Chai Macarons
loosely based off of the recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction that I blogged previously

Ingredients:

200g (about 2 cups) powdered sugar
100g (about 1 cup) almond flour
1 tablespoon ground chai tea (or about two teaspoons of ground black tea and one teaspoon ground chai spices)
120g (about 3 large) egg whites, room temperature
1/8 teaspoon salt
40g (3 tablespoons) sugar

Directions:

1) Place the powdered sugar and almond flour in a food processor or blender and pulse for 30 seconds until combined and fine in texture. Add in the chai tea. Set aside.
2) Beat the egg whites and salt together on medium speed in the bowl of a stand mixture. Switch to high speed and beat just until stiff peaks form. Fold in the sugar one tablespoon at a time.
3) Fold the almond flour mixture into the egg whites until combined. The mixture will be smooth, sticky and glossy when it is done. Let the batter rest for 10-30 minutes.
4) Line 2-3 baking sheets with un-greased parchment paper and prepare your piping bag.
5) Fill the piping bag and pipe small (about 2″) circles on the baking sheets. Gently tap the sheets to release bubbles and sprinkle cinnamon on the top of each cookie. Let the cookies rest for 45-60 minutes and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
6) Bake sheets one at a time for 10 minutes each, then remove and allow cookies to cool completely before removing from the sheets and filling with buttercream.

White Chocolate Buttercream

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, room temperature
3-4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
4 oz white chocolate, melted

Directions:

1) In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter for one minutes on high speed, until the butter is smooth and creamy.
2) Beat in the powdered sugar until it is completely blended and then add in the vanilla and white chocolate. Add in extra powdered sugar if the buttercream has become too runny or soft.

Preparing and Storing the Macarons:

–> Arrange similarly sized macaron cookies together, then pipe buttercream onto one cookie, sandwiching it with a second cookie. Be careful not to press too hard, as you don’t want to break the cookie or allow the buttercream to press outside of the edges of the cookie.
–> Macarons keep well covered at room temperature for a day or two, or up to a week in the refrigerator.